What’s a meat lover to do?
Buckle up because we’re about to ruminate on a pretty contentious topic: meat and climate change. The impact of eating meat as it pertains to climate is clear: there are more greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat calories than plant calories. It’s a huge source of optimism to see the rapid adoption of plant-based diets, and the quality and availability of new alternative product options. But we also recognize that it’s unrealistic to expect the whole world to stop eating meat any time soon. There are plenty of people, many of our team included, who face the ever-nagging internal conflict of genuinely enjoying meat while still wanting to make environmentally positive choices.
It can be debilitating to consider the climate in every consumer choice we make — especially one as important and pervasive as diet. The food system accounts for about 25% of all global emissions, 14-15% is from agriculture and half of that is directly from livestock … and 75% of all livestock emissions are from cattle. Cattle need 28X more land, 11X more water than pork or chicken and are the single largest source of methane, which is 80X more warming than CO2. Not to mention the tangential effects of deforestation, water table contamination, antibiotic resistance, pesticides and soil erosion. Yikes, that's a high price to satisfy that Big Mac craving.
There are nuances in land management and grazing cattle can (when done regeneratively) actually sequester carbon — but that is not what’s happening in your conventional grocery store or between fast food buns.
Another nuance worth mentioning is the $38B+ that the US government spends on subsidizing the meat and dairy industry each year. These subsidies help the meat industry stay profitable while continuing to incentivize meat consumption by keeping consumer prices low. The real, raw price of a pound of beef without these subsidies is estimated to be $30 – much steeper than a lot of us are willing to pay.
So what’s the easiest way to get 90% of the climate benefit with 10% of the sacrifice? When you do decide to eat meat, have a smaller portion size and ensure none on the table goes to waste. Don't eat meat with every meal so it becomes a treat/luxury and recognize that the climate cost of a ‘meat treat’ isn’t flat, as not all meat is created equal — cow products (that’s you too, dairy) are by far the worst climate offender. Eating more plants is a hugely positive choice, but strictly limiting beef and dairy in favour of other meats is as well. The privilege of having so many options in our grocery stores comes with the responsibility of making informed decisions – and luckily, lab grown meat and alternative meat and dairy products are becoming more available, more delicious and cheaper! We believe that in the near future eating less meat and choosing alternative proteins won’t be a sacrifice … it will be a staple and meat will be seen as the luxury it very much is.